Yes, for sure, it takes a good amount of self-discipline to handle the responsibility of using a mobile phone and unfortunately, most children are not prepared to do that before high school. In fact, the prefrontal cortex of children will not be fully developed until they are about 20 years – before this, children and adolescents do not have good control of their impulses -.
In this sense, children and adolescents can have too many temptations to use the social networks and can easily get caught in inappropriate activities say sexting, addictive gaming or other activities performed by the mobile say dating, etc. This affirms that a child or adolescent cannot use a mobile phone constantly and without supervision… it’s the same as giving a child an addictive substance and leave him alone… the danger is assured.
The responsibility
It is innate to feel worried when your child gets their first phone, even if you think they are responsible enough. It is also true that the phone is a connecting device that allows you to be more linked to your child when you’re not together or when they are out with friends. But it also symbolizes detachment with a reminder that your child is at an emotional distance with you. What’s worse, is a herald of the dangers hanging around in the outside world:
Poor Focus
Shrinking attention span
Text messages sent secretly to others at late hours
Perform inappropriate behaviors such as sending naked photos
Receiving or sending sex texts
suffer cyberbullying
Monitoring – Possible rules for mobile phone
If, despite all this, you think your child has enough capacity to use a mobile because it is a boy or a responsible girl, and then feel free to take into account the monitoring process so they make good use of the device. For Monitoring, you can take assistance from the kids control app such as FamilyTime that lets you take a peek at how your kids use their device. Using the FamilyTime app, you can easily figure out:
Who their contacts are
Whom do they call or communicate with (calls and text messages)
What do they surf the internet
What is available in their favorites or bookmarks
What apps do they use
How long they use their apps
What places they visit
What are their visit timings etc?
Once you monitor all their activities, the app gives you a chance to take control. For that, you can:
Watchlist suspicious contacts so you get notified every time the contact is made either through calls or via SMS
Geo-fence places they visit more frequently so you receive check in and check out alerts on their entry and exit.
Blacklist unwanted applications
Schedule screen locks for specific durations such as during their homework time, sleep hours or meal timings etc.
Remotely lock their phone to restrict access etc.
There are many other valuable features provided by the app that help parents make their kids device secure for them. So monitor their activities remotely with the help of this app. You can get it from Google Play or iTunes for a free download.
Take your control before you hand over the phone to your kid as you don’t give them mobile only but an access to a stranger world!